Season’s Greetings, Space Cats!

This is our final transmission for 2022 and we hope it finds you snug as a Christmas elf in a cryogenic chamber. As the year draws to a close, we’ve been flicking through our album and reflecting on the strange, bumpy ride of 2022. Back in the spring, we were still navigating our way through an asteroid field of illness, bereavement and lockdown delays. But after a period in deep space, the autumn brought a flurry of exciting events for Space Cat Press, both live and online. And it was a delight to share some special books with our community of readers and #SpaceCatStar authors. Thank you for being there with us throughout this journey, and we hope you got some great reads from it and a slice of cake! Here’s our album highlights:

In September, Space Cat went to the British Science Festival 2022, where we hosted a poetry performance and ebook launch for our latest title. With the help of dragons, torches and Egyptian gods, author Siobhan Logan retraced the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Mission to a remote comet. Logan’s Rosetta’s Midnight Barge: Crossing the Comet’s Underworld is available in ebook format on our shop page.

Then in October, we joined our #SpaceCatStar authors for a special online launch of our Severed Souls anthology. Space Cat editor Siobhan Logan interviewed 5 of the 20 authors and poets featured in this anthology on the Aliens & Otherness theme. You can still catch their fascinating discussion about ‘the alien within’ on our YouTube channel, along with plenty of intriguing audio-clips from the anthology.

In November, we got to take home an award for our ship’s mantlepiece! Space Cat’s Siobhan Logan won Leicester Writer’s Club Spoken Word Award for her poetry performance at our British Science Festival book launch. The trophy comes in the shape of a Native American pipe. So maybe we can expect some onboard music for our next long-haul flight…

Finally, three years of work culminated in a big Book Birthday party for Space Cat in November. In the beautiful space of Leicester’s Quaker Meeting Hall, we hosted a print Launch for both of our lockdown anthologies. It was our first opportunity to gather all our authors together, with their guests, and share their wonderful stories and poems. What a gorgeous afternoon that was with enticing author readings, shiny new print copies and a table laden with cake!

And now, just as we’re hanging our stockings in the engine room, December brings one last gift. If you’re a subscriber to the wonderful SFF magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, you’ll find an interview with Space Cat’s co-founder and Editor Siobhan Logan. She discusses publishing in a pandemic, knowing your people and mixing it up with genres, in a Q&A with Teika Marija Smits, another #SpaceCatStar. You’ll also find some tasty samples from our Severed Souls anthology in there too.

So the nut roast and mince pies are stowed away in our ship’s hold. And so far, the ship’s cat has turned a blind eye to the swags of tinsel… In this month’s quieter spells, we’ll be restocking books after our recent sell-out launch and conducting ship’s repairs in dock. We look forward to seeing you all when we’re back in orbit with news and plans for 2023. Meanwhile, from all of us at Space Cat, have a peaceful and restorative holiday, you lovely people!